Calls for action to combat North York Moors National Park river pollution

Trustees of the North Yorkshire Moors Association (NYMA) say: “We call on politicians and regulators to put more pressure on water companies to stop polluting our rivers through the use of out-dated ‘storm-to-spill’ legislation.”

In a five-point action plan the trustees want OFWAT to prioritise investment in infrastructure by Yorkshire Water (YW):

- to stop polluting the moors watercourses

- for YW to “work constructively” with communities, land managers, and the National Park Authority to find practical solutions to keep clean water from road gullies

- for DEFRA and the National Park Authority to encourage clean water out of their combined sewer overflow pipes and divert it to wetlands, ponds and ditches

- for North Yorkshire Council to divert water from road gullies

- and for DEFRA and the National Park Authority to provide support and catalyst funding

“Sadly even our National Parks, including the North York Moors, has not escaped, despite legislation which is supposed to afford them the highest level of landscape and biodiversity protection,” say the trustees.

"Untreated sewage is being discharged here into rivers and streams by Yorkshire Water which charges their customers to treat and make safe their sewage before it is released into the environment.”

Adrian Leaman, the association chairman, said: “Not only does this contravene the statutory purpose of National Parks to protect and conserve the wildlife and biodiversity but as many rivers and coastal streams have their headwaters in the park, any pollution impacts on the whole length of the watercourse.”

The trustees in a statement in their latest newsletter, said there at least 11,587 hours over 1,746 occasions when almost 50 of Yorkshire Water Sewage Treatment plants discharged untreated sewage into watercourses in the North York Moors.

“As well as being a nuisance to landowners, the raw sewage is seen by visitors to the park,” they added.

Olly Foster, owner of the Egton Estate and spokesperson for riparian owners along the River Esk in the park, said “The unique population of freshwater pearl mussels in the Esk has not successfully bred for decades due to increased pollution from untreated sewage, and detergents used in washing machines and dishwashers is not helping their recovery.